Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1999
Tornado Warning 5, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Jan 2, 1999, 12:51 AM CST for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 64 min. 3 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Jan 2, 1999, 12:51 AM CST (06:51 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 2, 1999, 1:55 AM CST
- In force
- 64 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Calcasieu Parish, LA
The radar
The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 18 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:51 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2, 1:05 AM CST | Tornado F0 | Sulphur, LA | |
| Jan 2, 1:40 AM CST | Hail 0.75 | Westlake, LA | |
| Jan 2, 1:50 AM CST | Tornado F1 | Sulphur, LA |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.
The watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 1, 11:00 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 6.9 hours before the alert went out and 19 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 437 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -7 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 704 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 202 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 238 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.4
- Supercell composite
- 2.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KLCH 020651 RRA TORLCH LAC019-020755- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 1251 AM CST SAT JAN 2 1999 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... CALCASIEU PARISH IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA * UNTIL 155 AM CST * AT 1249 AM CST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 22 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LAKE CHARLES OR 11 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CARLYSS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. * TORNADO WILL BE NEAR CARLYSS BY 105 AM CST SULPHUR BY 110 AM CST WESTLAKE BY 120 AM CST MOSS BLUFF BY 125 AM CST THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS AND DOORS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A STURDIER BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Lake Charles, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Jan 1, 7:15 PM CST, 5 hours 36 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 1, 7:15 PM CST, 5 hours 36 minutes before
SOUTHWEST...CENTRAL LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 715 PM CST FRI JAN 1 1999 CURRENT SFC ANALYSIS SHOWS WARM FRONT FROM NORTH-CENTRAL TX EXTENDING INTO NORTHERN LA WITH COLD FRONT ENTERING WESTERN TX. KLCH 88D SHOWING ISOLATED SHWRS IN NEWTON/JASPER COUNTIES WITH A NARROW LINE OF SHWRS MIGRATING THRU ALLEN...EVANGELINE AND RAPIDES PARISHES. ATTM...LITTLE OR NO TSTM ACTIVITY IN SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH-CENTRAL LA AS WELL AS SOUTHEAST TX. 00Z LCH SOUNDING FAIRLY UNSTABLE WITH CAPES OF 675 J/KG AND LI OF -3. SHEAR PROFILE A BIT MORE PRONOUNCED WITH SR HELICITY OF 235 AND DIR SHEAR OF 85 DEG. SHORT-TERM SEVERE THREAT NORTH OF FA...SPC ISSUING NEW TOR WATCH BOX ELIMINATING LCH FA FROM WATCH AREA. POTENTIAL OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVERNIGHT WITH THE APPROACHING COLD FRONT. TIMING OF FROPA AND TEMPS LOOK GOOD WITH NO CHANGES RECOMMENDED. 18 LCH BU 062/064 033/047 9600 LFT BU 062/068 032/048 6600 AEX BU 058/062 031/046 8500 BPT BU 060/063 032/047 9400
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jan 1, 7:37 PM CST, 5 hours 14 minutes before
LAZ027-028-030-031-041-042-TXZ180>182-201-215-216-020235- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 737 PM CST FRI JAN 1 1999 ...TORNADO WATCH CANCELLED FOR SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS... THE TORNADO WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS...JASPER...NEWTON...TYLER...JEFFERSON AND ORANGE... AND IN LOUISIANA...FOR VERNON...RAPIDES...BEAUREGARD...ALLEN... CALCASIEU AND JEFFERSON DAVIS PARISHES. THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER HAS MOVED TO THE NORTH OF THE FORECAST AREA...RESULTING IN THE CANCELLATION OF THE TORNADO WATCH ISSUED LATE THIS AFTERNOON. ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OVERNIGHT AS A STRONG COLD FRONT APPROACHES FROM WEST TEXAS. THESE STORMS WILL LIKELY BECOME STRONG WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR A FEW BECOMING SEVERE. WALLY
Local storm report, Jan 2, 12:02 AM CST, 49 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1202 AM CST SAT JAN 2 1999
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1155 PM NOME TX WIND DAMAGE
01/01/99 JEFFERSON TREE LIMB FELL ON
RESIDENCE...BREAKING FRONT
WINDOW.Local storm report, Jan 2, 12:02 AM CST, 49 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1202 AM CST SAT JAN 2 1999
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1155 PM NOME TX WIND DAMAGE
01/01/99 JEFFERSON TREE LIMB FELL ON
RESIDENCE...BREAKING FRONT
WINDOW.Local storm report, Jan 2, 12:11 AM CST, 40 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1211 AM CST SAT JAN 2 1999
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0405 AM 3 E IOTA LA WIND DAMAGE
01/02/99 ACADIA SMALL PLANE PICKED UP BY
STRONG WINDS AND THROWN INTO
POWER LINES NEAR THE
AIRPORT. REPORTED BY REED
AVIATION AND SHERRIFFS
OFFICE.The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2, 1:16 AM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Beauregard | 64 min |
| Jan 2, 1:53 AM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Cameron | 62 min |
| Jan 2, 1:55 AM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Calcasieu | 65 min |
| Jan 2, 2:06 AM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Allen | 64 min |
| Jan 2, 2:38 AM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Jefferson Davis | 62 min |
| Jan 2, 3:04 AM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Acadia | 66 min |
| Jan 2, 3:32 AM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Avoyelles | 63 min |
| Jan 2, 3:45 AM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Saint Landry | 65 min |
| Jan 2, 4:18 AM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Lafayette | 47 min |
| Jan 2, 4:29 AM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Vermilion | 66 min |
| Jan 2, 4:53 AM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Iberia | 67 min |
| Jan 2, 5:20 AM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | St. Mary | 65 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Louisiana, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes in 1999
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.